The truth is that like all frontbench line-ups, it is based on a combination of debts owed and simple availability, which in this case was pretty limited. The departures of seven top-line ministers would diminish any government, and this one's no exception.

Combined with Labor's smaller than usual representation in the Parliament, Rudd had at his disposal perhaps the shallowest talent pool of any established government in living memory. And it shows.

Which is not to say that it is all bad. Of course it is not.

Naming 11 female ministers out of the 30 all up on the frontbench - and six in cabinet - was something of which the Prime Minister was rightly proud. That alone will leave the Coalition in its dust, given it has just two female shadow cabinet members at present.

But such claims are often put forward as much to obscure as to explain.

That's because if you view the overall quality of a ministerial team on such narrow indices as gender, to the exclusion of other important criteria, you ignore most of the picture.

Genuine questions exist over the quality and performance of some of those named in the line-up - including some of the women - just as there are some puzzling demotions and befuddling exclusions.

A more objective analysis of the shape of the ministry, paying attention to the jobs allocated, reveals it will be a close coterie of men who will be running the big arguments, and handling the major problem areas between now and polling day.

Those chosen to carry this load seem the right ones however.

Tony Burke to immigration is a great move. The western Sydney MP who steered the Murray Darling Basin reforms to reality when others could not, is a star performer - excellent on detail, excellent under pressure, and skilled as an interlocutor.

Giving Anthony Albanese responsibility for the NBN is another smart move. Again, a formidable debater, he will not be intimidated by the very talented and popular, Malcolm Turnbull.

Bill Shorten has added education to his pile. Again, Shorten is a relentlessly convincing advocate and a proven performer. He will carry Labor's solid education message, ludicrously overblown as a ''revolution'' but nonetheless crucial to the government's chances.

And putting the smooth and efficient Mark Butler in climate change makes sense also. He will now commence the rapid dismantling of the carbon ''tax'' - which to borrow from the Blues Brothers takes on the political significance of being ''a mission from God'' in terms of its importance to Labor's recovery.

If the above ministers, along of course with Rudd and new Treasurer Chris Bowen, can succeed in their respective tasks, Labor will be a long way towards its ultimate goal of survival.

The others won't have to do too much other than avoid mistakes and sell their particular portfolios with moderate competence.

The danger for Rudd is that these men, with perhaps Finance Minister Penny Wong thrown in, come to constitute a new sub-cabinet grouping for the main decisions, reviving the same problems Rudd created in his first term as PM.

155 comments

Based on your comment, this means Abbott can't change either....OH MY GOD, HAVE YOU LOOKED AT HIS PAST PERFORMANCE AS HEALTH MINISTER!

Another beat up and no matter what Rudd did or who he selected, we will continue to have this unbalanced reporting, as the media are under instruction. (Rupert has told Australia that Abbott will be the next PM!)

Commenter

Chicken Little Detector

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

July 01, 2013, 12:00PM

Amanda Vanstone - in The Age today!

Commenter

Sticky note

Date and time

July 01, 2013, 12:02PM

Good point about the education revolution. Most people don't want a revolution, they just want to understand what the improvements are. There is a lot of recalibrating that can be far more effective. Unfortunately JG wasn't the subtlest of communicators and many nuances escaped her.

Commenter

GOV

Location

Sydney

Date and time

July 01, 2013, 12:18PM

Rudd, dysfunctional, unliked, hard to work with and now with less talent to help him…. And you know what? He’s still a much better option for Australia than Abbott! (unless your last name is Murdoch, Rinehart or Forrester)

If nothing else let’s hope that Rudd gets enough polling support to force Turnbull into the Liberal top job.

Commenter

QED

Date and time

July 01, 2013, 12:24PM

Whilst the media is inadvertently gifting Rudd the best ever free election campaign and vote swings, whilst some readers cant believe votes are dumb enough to swing on the weeks events.How important is his urgent issues, will a gay marrying tomorrow help you or Australia IN ANY WAY to make these efforts national worthy of urgency, How does a disability scheme help people when no costings and hardly anyone whom checked eligibility were found to be eligible but he gets free undue glory, How can people forget why most ministers deserted this Govt, and how most admit they only supported Rudd to retain their seat but don't like him and will depose him not long after the election and we get the same instability, and next another hung divided parliament With only one ALTERNATIVE PARTY set up to fully govern in it's own right and very efficient the Palmer party, as the only hope to stop all this and send a message we want governance back. A poll after the return of Rudd was interesting, only Rudd and Palmer moved up, all other parties took a dive. This gives weight to my comments last week that a shocker of CLIVE versus LIBS might be the theme on election day, as Clive hasn't started yet, he has been busy first forming a full government and has just completed that. So, the media is campaigning Rudd, Libs hold main vote, greens polling down, katter right down to almost nil, but Clive is up in polling so lets watch with interest, I'm tipping Clive will be effective on election day

Commenter

brian

Location

glenroy

Date and time

July 01, 2013, 12:29PM

I'm just still in shock about Hockey saying he should have "drowned Rudd" when he had the chance.

Commenter

sarajane

Location

melbourne

Date and time

July 01, 2013, 12:38PM

'twas a joke a humourless sarajane....

Quote:

"I've seen all the versions of Kevin - Kokoda Kevin, and I apologise to the Australian people, I should have drowned him when I had a chance in the mountains," he said, prompting the crowd to break into laughter and applause."In fact I did actually apologise to Julia Gillard on Wednesday before question time, and she said 'Yes you should reflect on that'," he said.

Commenter

SmallTalk

Location

Sydney

Date and time

July 01, 2013, 12:47PM

Smalltalk – humourless yes, a joke no. Hockey should know better. It’s his job to know that suggesting killing the serving PM is not funny and not acceptable. He would have known this from when his mate Alan Jones got in trouble of it. He could easily have said something about getting Rudd lost in the jungle and got laughs.

Commenter

QED

Date and time

July 01, 2013, 1:08PM

Fare thee well Simon Crean. Sad to hear that the last three years were the worst years in politics for you. The person responsible for all that is the Hon K Rudd.